Academic Integrity: tutoring, explanations, and feedback — we don’t complete graded work or submit on a student’s behalf.

Consider the decomposition of barium carbonate: BaCO3(s) -> BaO(s) + CO2(g). Usi

ID: 721965 • Letter: C

Question

Consider the decomposition of barium carbonate: BaCO3(s) -> BaO(s) + CO2(g). Using data from the thermodynamic quantities at 298.15K table, calculate the equilibrium pressure of CO2 at (a) 298K and (b) 1100K.

I have the answers, but need to understand the concept and the steps. Thanks!
The answers provided are: deltaH^degree = 269.3 KJ, deltaS^degree = 0.1719 J/K, (a)PCO2 = 6 x 10^-39 atm, and (b) PCO2 = 1.6 x 10^-4 atm

Explanation / Answer

By definitions dHrxn = dHproducts - dHreactants dHrxn you found = 269.3 kJ dSrxn is found in the same way (products - reactants) We basically set up our products and reactants: BaCO3(s) -> BaO(s) + CO2(g) dAnything = (BaO + CO2) - (BaCO3) The thermodynamic quantities in the table you have merely plugged in those values into the above equations to find the dS and dH respectively. For instance: dH = (Hformation of BaO + Hformation of CO2) - (Hformation of BaCO3) For partial pressures use the equation G = -RTlnK G = H- TS Plug in your values, for example in part A you would use, G = 269.3 - 298(0.1719) Once you have G you divide by -RT Where lnK = -G/RT Once you solve -G/RT then you set that side to the power of e to get rid of the logarithm Where K = e^(-G/RT) That'll get you K, now this is a subtle note for solids, in this case BaCO3 and BaO, assume their partial pressures are 1. K = Products / Reactants = pCO2 * pBaO / BaCO3 So essentially K is your pCO2